"Remember the good old times? Working side by side… It was a give and take between us- me giving and you taking most of the time, but then again I thought: She's a girl and we're friends-"

"We were never friends." Alice interrupted Trent, her insecurity about the kidnapping and the surprise at the culprit had vanished and made way for irritation.

Also, because of the head injury, her mind could not really keep up with the stream of words coming from his mouth. And his wild gesturing and pacing wasn't helping either- He always started to gesture or pace when he had a particularly exciting story to tell. However, his gestures became more and more wild the further the story progressed, most times even distracting the listeners from his speech. Which in turn let him believe they couldn't keep up with his intelligence, boosting his ego even more.

How he had been a lab technician for so long, since he was always waving around so wildly- without smashing anything- was a mystery to Alice. Or why he became a lab technician instead of a crime scene investigator in the first place, since he always wanted to be where the action was.

He wasn't a patient man either. Instead of waiting for his lab computer or the mass spectrometer to give a result, he roamed the lab and checked on his colleagues or simply took over their work. If he'd been let, he would have solved all cases on his own. But his 'incompetent boss' left him on the bench instead. Trent though was convinced that he was the only one who could save the world. And Alice was the only one who could keep up with him. The only one worthy of him...

"You are right, we were far more… We were partners." He resumed his pacing- as far as it was possible in the small room. "But then you had to go and stab me in the back. D'you know how that felt?"

"Is this a rhetorical question?" Alice asked, sighing deeply.

She wasn't sure where this was coming from. Sure, they both had been working at the New York City crime lab- him in the lab, her in the morgue- often on the same cases. But never together. Yes, they've been colleagues of some sorts, but not friends or partners. They were just friendly- sometimes chatting in the break room or comparing their results, or even discussing their assumptions about the suspects. On quiet nights, they even talked about 'the perfect murder'- hypothetically of course. Talking to him was interesting at first- he was smart and funny- until he started to think he was always right. It became very tiring to hear him boasting about himself and run down everybody else.

Snickering Trent put his hands on the armrests of her chair, leaning in. "You know, I missed that." At her sceptical look he tilted his head and looked her in the eyes, gesturing between them. "This. US. We were a great team." Alice rolled her eyes at him, which he didn't see since he turned his back to her stepping away, before turning back and pointing at her in excitement. "And we could be again."

"You mean like... this?" She stressed wiggling her bound arms, making him lean his back on the door. "Or when you slammed my head on the metal table- thanks btw." Speaking of metal table… Raising her eyes at him and blinking as realisation set in, her mind was finally calm enough to put the pieces together. "It was you-"

"What?", he asked feigning confusion, but then grinned like a Cheshire cat. He definitely knew what she meant, but was more than eager to hear it from her- to hear how she figured out his ingenious plan and finally acknowledged him as the genius that he was.

She didn't. "You killed them- You drugged and killed Daniel and Sarah Porter, making it look like an extended suicide- Sloppy execution, btw. Letting the wife's blood drop on him after he died? Really?"

"That was intentional.", he waved off. Straightening up he leaned towards her with a grin. "Oh, I knew you would figure it out. Our last joint case- right before you dumped me-"

"You make it sound like we were- something.", she interrupted him. He shook his head as if trying to shake off her words. "We were just colleagues, until you contaminated evidence on that case-"

"I've been framed of contaminating evidence. And you didn't help me." He snapped back, his voice shaking in anger. Taking deep breaths to cool down, he continued more calm. "But I'm not angry or anything. I just want my friend back."

"I could never be friends with a psychopath."

"That's rich coming from you. You're friends with that Sherlock guy.", he replied, taking a few steps away from her.

"He's not a psychopath, he's a highly functioning sociopath. Do your research." Alice snapped at him remembering the consulting detective saying those same words.

Trent shot around- his eyes blazing with rage- his hand colliding with her cheek. Alice's head jerked aside, the sudden motion and the stinging sensation from the slap making her vision go black for a moment. She winced, blinking fast to get her vision back and willing away the tears. She'd never give him the satisfaction to see her cry. Slowly a throbbing pain began to spread all through the left side of her face.

She remembered Trent as arrogant and defiant, but never violent- usually too absorbed in his own world. So the slap came as a surprise. And considering his mood swings- calling her friend and partner one moment and slapping her the next- and how he already killed two people only to get her- Alice shuddered as in the seconds that followed, the images of her dying rushed through her head. Now she was starting to get afraid of him.

As her eyes were able to focus again she saw Trent leaning on a wall slamming his fist against it multiple times, each blow making her flinch. His blood was slowly dripping down the wall, making the grey walls look even more dirty.

Taking deep breaths and trying to calm down he turned around, crouching down in front of her. Wiping his hair from face with his bloody hand and leaving a crimson wipe mark behind, he narrowed his piercing eyes at her.

"See what you made me do?", his voice a menacing whisper. Grabbing her face with his bloodied hand and smiling sadistically, he looked at her in anticipation. Alice tried to turn away in disgust, but he held her with an iron grip. "Originally, I wanted to forgive you. But since you don't feel sorry for betraying me, I have to make you feel my pain."